A reported plan by Taiwan authorities to write "Taiwan" on the cover of passports in place of the "Republic of China" drew attention from Beijing yesterday which says the move was part of a symbolic inching towards independence.

Zhang Mingqing, spokesman of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a press briefing that the mainland would watch the move with caution.

"We will keep vigilance and observe what next steps Taiwan authorities will take," Zhang said.

Zhang expressed hope of resuming cross-Straits talks at an early date, but insisted that acceptance of the one-China principle and the 1992 consensus be a prerequisite.

"The possibility of resuming dialogue is always there," he said. "We can talk at any time, but the key matter is that the Taiwan authorities refuse to recognize the one-China principle."

Zhang also responded to a report that Taipei's "Mainland Affairs Council" head Tsai Ying-wen said Beijing should pay more attention to the "goodwill" voiced by Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian.

Zhang urged Taiwan authorities to cast away illusions of independence and accept the inevitability of reunification.

Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party administration, of which Chen is leader, refuses to accept the one-China principle and denies the existence of the 1992 consensus to that effect.

The one-China principle holds that there is only one China in the world, both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan are parts of it and Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no separation. Under the 1992 consensus, an informal agreement reached orally between the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation in November 1992, the two sides of the Straits acknowledge the reality of the one-China principle.

Semi-official talks have been frozen since 1999, when then Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui said the island's ties with the mainland should be seen as "special state-to-state relations."

Zhang also called for a full opening of trade, transport and communications across the Taiwan Straits, saying the province has not reformed enough by allowing direct contacts only between the mainland and the Kinmen and Matsu islands.

"The links between the outlying islands (Kinmen and Matsu) can hardly be counted as a part of 'direct three links,'" Zhang said.

Taiwan has enforced a ban on direct contact since 1949, when the Kuomintang lost a civil war and fled to the island.

The ban demands that Taiwanese travelers and goods to the mainland pass through a third place, usually Hong Kong. This adds time and expense.

The mainland and Taiwan inaugurated direct links between East China's coastal Fujian Province and Taiwan's outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu in January. Beijing is striving for a bigger goal of expansion of three links.

"The three direct links are good for the businesses of Taiwan," Zhang said.

Aside from the troublesome plan to change the face of passports, Zhang said Beijing is concerned about textbooks compiled in Taiwan and used in two mainland schools for Taiwanese children.

These books will lead youngsters astray if they maintain the separatist and state-to-state theories.

"What we are really concerned about is whether the content is in accordance with the one-China principle," Zhang said

Turning to some Taiwan business people's preparation for former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui's think-tank, "Taiwan Advocates," Zhang said business people should have a clear understanding of the purpose of this separatist organization.

The Taiwan Advocates intended to recruit entrepreneurs, lawmakers and academics to pursue Taiwan-independence and thwart contacts between both sides.

(China Daily December 27, 2001)